2 For I give unto you good learning; Do not ye forsake my teaching. 3 When I was the tender child of my father, Yea, beloved as an only child by my mother; 4 He taught me, and said unto me: 5 "Let thy heart retain my words; 66 66 66 Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live. Forget not, nor swerve from the words of 6 "Forsake her not, and she will guard thee; "Love her, and she will preserve thee. my mouth. 7 "In the beginning was wisdom! Acquire wisdom, "Yea, above all thine acquisitions, acquire understanding. 8 "Exalt her, and she will raise thee; "She will bring thee to honour, if thou embrace her. 9 "She will give to thy head a graceful ornament; 10 11 12 13 "A brilliant crown shall she deliver to thee. "Hearken, O my son, and receive my words; "So shall years of happiness be multiplied unto thee. 66 "I instruct thee in the way of wisdom; “I lead thee into the paths of rectitude. "As thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened, “And when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 66 66 Lay firm hold on instruction, relax not; Keep her, for she is thy life. 14"Enter not into the path of the wicked, "Nor go forward in the way of evil men. 18 "Unless they do evil; "Yea, their sleep is taken away, 66 For they eat the bread of wickedness, "And drink the wine of violence. "The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, "Which brighteneth more and more, till it is perfect day. 19"The way of the wicked is as thick darkness; 22For they are life to those, who attain unto them, 23 24 “And soundness to all their flesh. "Above every object of thy watchful care, keep thy heart, "For from it goeth forth life. "Put away from thee frowardness of mouth, "And remove far from thee perverseness of lips. 16 cause men to stumble-i. e. induce men to participate with them in their wickedness. 17 bread of wickedness-wine of violence 19 perceive-Heb. know. 23 The sacred writer here exhorts us to against the approaches of evil, since the good conduct and happiness of life depend upon the due regulation of the heart and its affections. Agreeably to this, our blessed Saviour declares that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 34.). 23 Above &c.-Heb. Above all watching. goeth forth-Heb. (are) the outgoings of. 25 "Let thine eyes look strait forward, "And thine eye-lids be directed before thee. 26 "Weigh well the path of thy foot, "So shall all thy ways be established. 27"Turn not to the right hand or to the left, "Remove thy foot from evil. 66 1 "O my son, attend unto my wisdom, 2 3 "And that thy lips may preserve knowledge. 66 Truly, the lips of a strange woman drop honey, "And her mouth is smoother than oil; 4 "But, in the end, she is bitter as wormwood"She is sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 "Her feet go down unto death! "Her steps lay hold on the grave! 6"Lest thou shouldest weigh well the path of life, "Her tracks are devious; thou canst not know them!" Exhortation not to lead an unchaste life-to maintain inviolate the purity of the marriage bed. 7 NOW therefore, ye children, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, And approach not the door of her house, 25 In this verse, we are exhorted to keep steadily in view, under all circumstances, the great duties of life. The precept, however, seems to have a special reference to the necessity of being continually on our guard against the seductions of the wicked, and to this end, it warns us against allowing our eyes, at any time, to wander into the haunts of profligacy. CHAPTER V. 2 That thou mayest keep-Heb. for the 3 mouth-i.e. the language which pro- 9 Lest thou shouldest give thine honour unto others, 10 Lest strangers be filled to the full with thy strength, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed; 12 And shouldest say: "How have I hated instruction! 14 "I have been well nigh in all evil, 15 Drink water out of thine own cistern, And running waters from thine own well. 16 Then shall thy fountains be poured forth in the streetsIn the wide streets, as streams of water! shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up." Hosea xiii. 15. Compare also Ps. lxviii. 26. and Isai. xlviii. 1. In Song of Sol. iv. 12. the spouse is called "a spring shut up" and "sealed." 16 be poured forth-Heb. be dispersed, i. e. be abundant. in the streets" the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." Zech. viii. 5. These words are used to indicate a highly prosperous condition. Opposed to this is the threat of depopulation contained in Jer. ix. 21. "For death is come...... to cut off the children from without (i.e. who are playing out of doors) and the young men from the streets (i.e. who throng the city)." As streams of water-i.e. with an abundant supply. "Waters ran thro❞ the desert, like a river." Ps. cv. 41. 17 They shall belong to thee alone, And not to strangers with thee. 18 Thy well shall be blessed, Yea, thou shalt have joy in the wife of thy youth. 19 A lovely hind—a graceful ibex Her breasts shall yield thee plenteous delight at all times, Thou shalt rove continually in her love. 20 Why then, my son, wilt thou rove after a strange woman, And why wilt thou embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of JEHOVAH, And He weigheth well all his paths. 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked man captive, Yea, he shall be holden fast by the cords of his own sin. 23 He shall die, because he hath not hearkened to instruction, Even for his exceeding folly, wherein he goeth astray. Precepts and assurances, similar to those just given, are found in Ecclus. xxvi. 19, 20, 21. "My son, keep the flower of thine age sound; and give not thy strength to strangers. When thou hast gotten a fruitful possession through all the field, sow it with thine own seed, trusting in the goodness of thy stock. So the race which thou leavest shall be magnified, having the confidence of their good descent." wife of thy youthi.e. the wife to whom, at an early period of life, you were united. In Eastern countries particularly, marriages are contracted at an early age. 19 ibex-mountain-goat. The animals here mentioned are very gentle and elegant. They were consequently greatly noticed and caressed by their owners. Nathan, in a similar manner, compares the wife of Uriah to a "little ewe-lamb," which a poor man "had bought and nourished up," and which " grew up with him and his children," and "did eat of his own meat, and drink of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter." 2 Sam. xii. 3. yield thee plenteous delight-Heb. saturate thee. 20 strange woman-stranger-See ii. 16. Note 3. 21 For &c. (I make this enquiry) be cause &c. 22 The image here employed is borrowed from the fate of a wild beast caught in the toils of the hunter. Compare vii. 22, 23. 23 exceeding Heb. much. |